In 2013, the central business district office market saw its vacancy rate rise due to new supply. In the first half of the year, three projects totaling an approximate gross floor area of 161,323 square meters were introduced into the CBD market. Looking forward, although new supply in 2014 are much less than seen in 2013, various Cheongjin office development plans are scheduled to becoming available in 2014. However, some new completions will be occupied by owners in the CBD area. Market condit

The nation’s two leading oil refineries are competiting over a stake in Australian petrol retailer and supplier United Petroleum, according to industry sources. Following the confirmation of Saudi Aramco-invested S-Oil last week, SK Innovation said on Monday that SK Energy, its refinery arm, was considering the acquisition of a stake in United Petroleum. “The move is part of the firm’s continued efforts to tap business opportunities overseas,” SK Innovation, the nation’s top refinery, said in a

The Korea Rural Community Corp., a public firm that has carried out rural infrastructure and community development projects for decades, is shifting its focus to overseas projects under its new leadership. “The demand for learning from Korea’s agricultural infrastructure construction and rural and fishing village development know-how is increasing in developing countries,” KRC CEO Lee Sang-mu told The Korea Herald.  “The KRC will focus on tapping overseas business opportunities in such areas und

Korea and China kicked off second-phase negotiations to conclude a bilateral free trade agreement in Incheon on Monday, in which both sides will tackle market opening and liberalization item by item, Seoul officials said. The FTA talks between the two countries, which will last until Friday, are the eighth such round. The two sides completed the first-stage talks in September in China where both sides agreed on the basic guidelines, or modality, for the second-phase talks on item-by-item tariff

Leaders from business and political circles agreed Friday to set up a consultative body to deal with pending economic issues including the passage of bills aimed at boosting the sagging economy.The agreement was made after the main opposition Democratic Party floor leader Jun Byung-hun expressed the party’s unwillingness to cooperate with business leaders’ request for quick legislative action to pass some of the economic-related bills.It is the first time that chiefs of the ruling and opposition

POSCO chairman and CEO Chung Joon-yang conveyed his willingness to resign to the chairman of the company’s board of directors to pave the way for new leadership, company officials said on Friday.Chung requested that the board chairman launch the in-house process to select his successor, the officials said.Chung decided to step down out of the need for new leadership to lead POSCO, the nation’s top steelmaker, in the fast-changing global business environment, the company said. The outgoing CEO wa

With rising public concerns over pollution blowing in from China, dust control products are gaining popularity. Air Max, a mat suctioning fine dust from shoes, made by Testonic, is one such product. “The company has sought a way to keep front entrances clean, which is important to prevent air pollution inside buildings. Eventually, we invented a mat product to clean off all types of hazardous substances attached to shoes,” Testonic CEO Kang Ok-nam said.To differentiate the product from similar p

Korea will nurture the fast-growing geospatial information industry as one of the nation’s new growth engines in an integrated and systematic manner, the new head of the Korea Cadastral Survey Corp., or LX, said on Wednesday. “LX will transform into a hub organization to realize the vision, renewing its corporate name as the Korea Land Geospatial Information Corp. soon,’’ LX CEO Kim Young-pyo told The Korea Herald. The new entity, aimed at promoting the nation’s geospatial information industry,

The shale gas boom in the U.S. will eventually turn Asia’s natural gas market from the current seller’s market to a buyer’s market, London-based World Energy Council cochair Younghoon David Kim said Tuesday. “Leading gas sellers, including Russia, Australia and Malaysia, have started feeling the pinch as the U.S., once a gas buyer, is transitioning into a gas provider thanks to the recent shale gas boom,’’ Kim, who also leads Daesung Group, a Korean city-gas-driven energy conglomerate, said in a

The state-run Korea National Oil Corp. is likely to shun new buyout deals for the time being as its CEO said the top priority of the firm next year would be making progress in current oil exploration and production projects.“The company plans to focus its efforts on seeing progress in its ongoing oil E&P projects overseas next year,” KNOC CEO Suh Moon-kyu said.  He made the remarks at a press meeting held on the opening day of the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference on Mo

Korean companies’ interest in the Russian Far East is likely to be rekindled as Russian President Vladimir Putin and his economic delegation are expected to proactively invite them to the easternmost part of Russia during their visit to Korea this week, market analysts said. “Despite the growth potential of Russia’s Far East, Korean companies have been slow to make inroads into the energy affluent and geographically attractive, but less developed Russian region. Mainly due to its weak infrastruc

Demand for Korean food products is growing quickly in the U.K., riding on the rising popularity of Korean pop culture in Europe, Homeplus, the nation’s second-largest discount retailer owned by British retail chain Tesco, said Thursday. “The trend is reflected in the third Taste of Korea promotion event, which was launched on Nov. 5 through Tesco branches in the U.K. for a two-week run,” a company official said. The event began this year on the same day President Park Geun-hye started her state